Doug Stevens believes that in the 2nd Congressional District race, Ross Anderson lost "because he is pro-abortion, pro-gay, pro-criminal rights and an ACLU militant," and not because Merrill Cook could buy the office with his own money because "the voters are so uninformed that the issues do not matter" (Forum, December 16, 1996). Let's assume Stevens is right and look at the issues that he identified.

"Pro-abortion" is a red herring. No one favors abortions over births. What most Americans favor is the individual woman over the government in making the wrenching decision of whether to abort her pregnancy under her particular circumstances. No one should mount a moral high horse on this vexing issue. Even the Supreme Court was divided in Roe vs. Wade but did lay down some reasonable rules as the law of the land, which Ross Anderson and most Americans support.

"Pro-gay" is nothing more than pro-human being, pro-fellow citizen. Our best scientific information, I believe, indicates that gays are born that way. They don't choose their sexual orientation, nor do they recruit heterosexuals into their ranks. They are as decent, law-abiding and productive as the heterosexual population, and entitled to the same rights and privileges as all citizens.

"Pro-criminal rights" means protecting such constitutional rights as due process and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. "ACLU militant" means protecting such constitutional freedoms as speech, religion (separation of church and state) and assembly.

It is unfortunate that issues too rarely get aired in a political campaign. Labels substitute for thought, and sound bites for understanding. Stevens, for example, calls Anderson a "zealous liberal extremist," apparently because he supports the law on freedom of choice, treats all human beings with equal respect and seeks to protect our constitutional freedoms.

Since Stevens apparently disagrees with Anderson, would it be fair to label him "anti-freedom," "anti-equality" and "anti-civil liberties"? If I spent $1 million branding Stevens as such, the voters would think Saddam Hussein's clone was on the ballot.

--Earl Wunderli
Letter to the Editor published in
The Salt Lake Tribune
January 14, 1997